1. Field of The Invention
The present invention relates to a fastening device for an electrical connector, and particularly to a fastening device for an electrical connector which can be stably engaged with a printed circuit board.
2. The Prior Art
Electrical connectors are often directly mounted to a printed circuit board by means of fastening devices such as board locks. At least a pair of board locks is interferentially engaged with inner walls of slots defined in a bottom surface of a housing of the connector. A resilient portion extending beyond the bottom surface of the housing is received in a hole defined in the printed circuit board whereby the connector is mounted thereto. The related prior art is disclosed in Taiwan Patent Application Nos. 80204998, 80211753, and 81210551, and U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,907,987, 5,057,027, 5,074,807, 5,080,611, 5,135,412, 5,184,963, 5,411,404, and U.S. Pat. No. 5,547,385.
A conventional board lock disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,907,987 comprises a main body engaged with a connector and having an elongate projection downwardly extending therefrom for retention in a PCB whereby the connector is mounted thereon. A slot is defined in the projection thereby forming two resilient spring members on opposite sides thereof. A pair of barbs outwardly extend from each spring member whereby the board lock can be interferentially retained within an aperture defined in the PCB. However, the interferential fit between the barbs and an inner surface of the aperture may not be stable whereby the board lock may move within the slot, thus, the connector may become disengaged from the PCB. Furthermore, the main body of the board lock may not be securely engaged with the connector thereby resulting in a loose fit therebetween which may adversely affect signal transmission.
Hence, an improved fastening device is requisite to eliminate the above mentioned defects of current fastening devices.